Turkish politicians fear that U.S. will recognize Armenian Genocide

Turkey this week feels more threatened by a few U.S. lawmakers than it does by its neighbors or alleged coup plots or even Kurdish militants.

Turkish politicians fear if a U.S. congressional panel recognizes the World War-I era killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide, that would not only damage ties with its longtime U.S. ally but hurt U.S.-led efforts to help Turkey end a century of enmity with archrival Armenia.

Ahead of Thursday's vote at the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Turkey issued blunt warnings urging the Congress to ''act with responsibility,'' and its lawmakers lobbied in Washington against yet another resolution on the stinging issue.

This time, however, they do not have the U.S. administration on their side.

Past U.S. administrations have defeated similar resolutions through public cajoling about U.S. national security interests and behind-the-scenes lobbying. So far, however, the Obama administration has taken no public position on the measure and President Barack Obama said as a candidate that he believed the killings were genocide....